Day 10 - Thunder River

Day 10 – Thunder River

I really thought that after we finished day eight that it would be mostly quiet, but then the next day I kept hearing about bedrock and Dubendorf. I vaguely remembered reading about Dubendorf, but I did not have any recollection of Bedrock.

Bedrock was the second of the main rapids that we went through on day 10. On most rapids there is usually some kind of comparison, but of the rapids I have rowed I think that Bedrock is unique. At the start the river it is going strait. As you enter the main rapid the river makes an abrupt right hand turn. In the middle of the river is a giant rock. Most of the water is flowing around the left of the rock. That is where the current is trying to take you, but it is not where you want to go. At the top of the left run there is a strong recirculating eddy with a narrow chute to try and make it through at the bottom. The right is an easier run, but there are a lot of boulders close to shore. For a good run you wait until you are past the rocks and then pull hard to the right.

Scouting Bedrock

The run went how I hoped, but it sure did not feel like it was going to. I waited until I was past the last boulder on the right and then started rowing for all I was worth. It felt like nothing was happening, and that I was destined to make a left hand run. Then almost as if by magic I was free of the main current and heading down the right run with a lot of room to spare. We did have a little drama on the river. One of the boats went too far right and got caught on the rocks. It was a little scary because they were pinned for a few minutes in an area that would have been difficult to help with.

Through Bedrock

The next rapid was Dubendorf. To be honest I am not sure exactly what happened there. It was kind of a crazy rapid. There were waves all over the place. I’m not sure that I went where I was supposed to go, but wherever I went it was a fun ride. We made it to Racetrack Camp shortly after, which was good because we had a long hike after lunch.

The Thunder River hike is quite amazing, but it really took it out of me. It was actually one of Adrienne’s favorite hikes when she went down in 2001. It was a hot day and one of the hardest parts of the hike was at the first. We hiked along the side of the canyon from our camp to Tapeats Creek. From there we started the trail. The first part of the trail is a series of switchbacks that go ever upward on a south facing wall. With the sun beating down it was a difficult climb. It is on climbs like that, when I start to feel jealous of mountain goats. Once to the top of the canyon we walked along the side of a cliff until it met up again with Tapeats Creek.

Looking Down on the First Section of Trail

View From the Top

Hiking Along the Cliff

We hiked along the side of the creek, and across it several times, for what seemed like miles and miles. By that time the heat had given me a throbbing headache. At last we came to a spot where we could see Thunder River. Thunder River looks like it is flowing right out of a cliff. It is an amazing scene. Our vantage point was also beautiful with the creek on one side and some beautiful cottonwoods on the other.

Thunder River From a Distance

A Closer View

The next thing I know the people who have been on the hike before start talking about the final push. At that point I was done. I had a terrific headache, and despite my best efforts at hydration, I felt like I had a belly full of warm water and a dehydrated body. I decided I would press on though. How bad could it be?

It seemed like the farther we walked the farther away our goal was. The trail went up the side of a mountain and every time I looked up the people ahead of me were higher up the switch backs. Not seeing the end I actually called it good and laid down to rest about 15 yard before the end of the trail. Luckily the group sent someone to get me. I had no idea how close I was to an oasis. The trip was hard, but the payoff was big. It was nice to have a refreshing spot before making the trip down. We filtered some water, rested a while and then made our way back.

Resting at the Waterfall

Looking Up at the Waterfall

On that trail even the walk back down seemed tough. When I made it to within a half mile of camp I met up with Mark, who had been my passenger for the last three days. He had hiked back from camp because he had heard I was struggling. He brought a flash light and some water. It was twilight as we made the final push down. He even offered to take my place on clean up crew that night.

When we got back to camp I got some food and water in me. I also took a bath in the cold river, and then sat in my chair with my feet in the water. It was amazing. I have never in my life had a headache disappear so quickly. I guess the grueling parts of the hike lasted a few hours, but the good parts of the memories will last a lifetime.

Day 9 - Elves Casm

After our big day on the river the day before day 9 seemed to be a fairly mild day as far as rapids go. There were some big ones to be sure, but they were more spread out. This day would be mostly about seeing the sights and moving down river.

Shinamu Creek

Our first stop of the day was Shinumo Creek. We could easily see the creek from our camp, but do to the landscape it was not easily accessible. It is too bad, because it is really quite a lovely spot. There is a small waterfall about 50 yards up the creek from the river. The drop is only about six feet, but it is a gusher. It would have been nice to go there the day before when I was feeling a bit hot and miserable. Our stop was short. We cooled off for a bit and then filled my empty cooler with water to be filtered later.

Under the Waterfall

I was really excited for the next stop on our trip. I had heard and read a lot about Elves Chasm. It is a little bit farther from the river than Shinumo, but it is a truly beautiful spot. The creek there carves a chasm into the rock. In one spot there is a small waterfall that pours into a pool. From the waterfall you can jump into the pool. Our group spent a long time there just doing that.

Elves Chasm

Ready to Jump

Our last diversion of the day was Blacktail Canyon. At first I was not that excited to go. It started out as a short hike over a large sun baked debris fan. When you get there it is a small slot canyon. I say that it is just a small slot canyon, which is true, but it is more than that. It has a feel to it that is hard to describe. In some ways it feels out of place. Maybe that is because to step inside feels like moving into a different world. It is cool and enclosed compared to the outside which is wide open and very hot. It also has a bit of a spooky feel. That may be a consequence of the ghost story that Nancy read to us about the canyon from one of her books. It was a place that I was a bit sad to leave.

BlackTail Canyon

The Sky from Black Tail

After our sight seeing we pushed to the Randy’s Rock Campground. A commercial group had left it open for us, which was good, because we made it there rather late.

Day 8 - The Big Stuff

Day eight was by far the biggest of the big water days. On that day we ran three of the canyon’s big six rapids. After you finish the big three there is still a lot of white water left. There is a series of rapids called the jewels. Each rapid is named after a different jewel. Rapids include Sapphire, Ruby, Turquoise as well as others. It is a pretty good stretch all by itself.

While we were getting ready in the morning one of our passengers, Marley asked if I had a plan for running Granite. This was before the morning scout, but after having seen the rapid the night before. My response was, “Yeah, I’m going to pick a spot and then pray.” I had never before seen a rapid quite like Granite. It was like the whole stretch of river was in chaos. There were not many spots that looked completely un-runable, but the river was full of waves that I would not hit on purpose either. In picking my line I think I mostly exercised faith in the more experienced rafters. I was pretty nervous about this rapid, because I do like having a better plan than hang on and pray. It turned out to be one of the best rides of the river.

Scouting Granite

Granite Rapid

The next rapid of the big six that we would hit was Hermit. Hermit is kind of interesting. The main part of the rapid is a nice wave train. The defining feature of Hermit is the fifth wave. It is huge, and it surges. You do not want to arrive at the fifth wave at the wrong part of the surge. We ran it at a fairly forgiving water level. I have heard many stories about the fifth wave flipping several boats in the same group. In a lot of ways Hermit had the same strategy as Granite. So I picked my spot and hoped for the best. It was a bumpy ride, but ultimately it was a good one.

The Fifth Wave Surging

Crystal rapid was the next big one for the day. Boy is it a big one. It is also one of the newer rapids on the river. It was formed by a flash flood in the sixties. It is the second highest rated rapid on the river. It is also the deadliest on the river. At the top of the rapid there is a debris fan on river right, a large eddy with a pourover on river left, and some gargantuan holes down the middle.

Some of the holes on Crystal

Our run was on the right side of the river. There are some rocks at the top of the rapid on river right. We started out just right of center at the top of the rapid. My stern was pointed downstream and to the right. After we passed the rocks I made my move to break through the tongue. After watching the first boat through I decided that I wanted to wait a little bit longer for the breakthrough. It is kind of a tough thing to wait. When you wait on this part of the rapid the current is pushing you toward the big holes. In this case patience paid off. My line was a lot easier than it would have been. It was a straight shot to the right side. From there my run was clear except for a submerged rock that briefly caught us.

My Boat after having made it through the first part

At the bottom of the rapid there is a large rock garden. It is the rock garden that really makes the rapid dangerous. It can easily trap boats and people after a bad run. A month early a commercial boat lost power in Crystal. The large boat got stuck on the rock known as big red, and was stuck there all night. The passengers were rescued by helicopter the next day. Our run was considerably better than that. I made the pull to the right of the rocks and all was well.

It is funny. When we were talking about favorite rapids that evening, everyone looked at me like I was crazy when I said Crystal was my fave. A good run through Crystal is not much of a ride. For me it was a good and a boring run, but there was a feeling of triumph about hitting a rapid like that just how I wanted to. I have literally known about this rapid for seven years. Adrienne’s family made a CD for the last run through the Grand Canyon. One of the songs was ABC by the Jackson Five. For the rafters ABC signified being Alive Below Crystal.

Even with three big rapids and three scouts to go with them we made pretty good time. We decided to break plan and keep running straight through to camp. The main reason is that our intended destination, Bass Camp, is extremely popular. This meant that we would not be able to have our planned lunch of tuna sandwiches, on Tuna Beach, below Tuna Rapid. You can’t win them all!

It is really too bad that the Jewels come right after such an intense section of river. They were some pretty fun rapids. After the big three I think I may have been to worn out to enjoy them.

Our camp that evening was another hot one. Some people went on hikes in the area, but I was too wiped out. I spent the afternoon reading and sleeping. That night we decided to pull out the black lights. They are for finding scorpions. It was kind of scary because we found a lot of them. I guess that is one of the advantages of sleeping on the boat.

Day - 7 The Exchange

I knew that we were camped close to Phantom Ranch the night before, but I had no idea how close. The boater’s beach was just around the bend. Brian and Seth had done an early morning float down to the boaters beach so that those hiking out could get an early start. We thought we would have to wait for the people hiking in, but that did not prove a problem. The kayakers were so excited that they started hiking early. That made it easy for us. We were able to make the quick hike from boaters beach to Phantom Ranch without having to wait. It was kind of interesting to see buildings and people. Going to an actual bathroom was kind of nice to.

From Phantom I was able to make my call home. It was nice to be able to talk to Adrienne and the kids. It is hard to describe how nice it was to talk to someone who was so excited to talk to me. It also touched my heart when Adrienne told me how well the ward was taking care of her. Honestly, being in the dark as I was, I thought maybe they were going a little overboard. Adrienne almost let it slip, but she made sure not to tell me why she was being taken care of so well. A few days earlier our baby had spent a night in the hospital. Under the circumstances I appreciate her keeping it from me. Jane was okay, and at that point the only thing that I would have been able to do would be to worry. It was so nice to talk to Adrienne that I was really sad when we had to hang up.

We hung around Phantom Ranch for awhile. One of there biggest sellers there is lemonade. Once they are done with the lemonade they fill the bottles with water and freeze them. Then they sell the ice to boaters that are coming through. It is quite the business they have going. We bought all of their lemonade bottles and a few bags of ice, which then had to be carried to the boat. As hot as the day was, I think the bag of ice I had was one of the most pleasant loads I have ever carried.

Once back at the boats we met our new members of the group and had lunch. There were two kayakers, Curtis and Jon, as well as Mark who would spend most of the rest of the trip on my boat. The group was not lacking in enthusiasm. That first day the kayakers were practically giddy with excitement. I don’t think they could have wiped the grins off their faces if they had wanted to.

After lunch we made our way down river. There was only one big rapid for the day but it was a dozy. Horn Creek is one of the big six. It is easier at higher water so we had planned to go when the water would be at its peak. There really is not a good scout for this one. There are two rocks on this one called the horns. One was more in the center than I was expecting, the other is on the left. The run is right between them. For some reason Craig was in front of me when we went through. He ended up taking a run that went over the right horn. Because of the drop I could not see his run well, but it looked like a crazy ride. He made it through all right though. There was a funny moment afterward when Curtis paddled up next to him and yelled, “Nice Run.” At first Craig thought he was being made fun of, but kayakers are different breed. Curtis saw the run and though it just looked fun.

We arrived at camp a short time later. Monument Creek camp offers a great view of Granite rapid. The first thing we did when we got there was to watch a commercial group run the rapid. It was kind of scary to see the rapid at high water. It was like the whole stretch of river left to right top to bottom was full of gigantic waves. There was so much big water I did not really see a path that I wanted to take.

We went back to camp, where I tried not to think about the next day. Granite would be the first of three big rapids the next day. In addition to those there would be several other rapids that are big in their own right. Luckily that afternoon I found a nice spot to set up my cot for the afternoon. It was a spot nestled under a tree at the bottom of a cliff. I do not think the spot gets hardly any sun. I was able to curl up and take a fantastic nap. It was good to get some rest. The next day would be the biggest water day of the trip.

Day 6 - Swiming Sockdolager

Our sixth day was in a lot of ways similar to our second day on the river. It rained on us just a little bit and it was another big water day. After packing up for the day our first stop was on the Unkar Delta. It is a nice little spot on the river that is full of Anasazi ruins. In this area you can see the foundations of houses, along with pieces of pottery. There were self guided tour maps to explain what everything is. The maps would give details to the ruins, which were marked with numbered posts. It is interesting to see the remnants of centuries ago, and wonder what life must have been like back then. I especially wonder what they thought of the river and the rapids.

After leaving Unkar it was time to get ready for the big day of rapids. The first scout of the day was Unkar rapid. We kind of scouted it by default because it is visible from the delta. Next we made our way toward Hance the first of the big six rapids on our trip. To be honest it was a little daunting to actually be there. I have heard about this rapid so many times over the years. Invariably if you have heard stories about a rapid, the stories are about what can go wrong.

There are really two ways to go down Hance Rapid. On river left there is a rocky left hand cheat. River right is known as the land of the giants. It is not a place that boats our size usually like to be. I have a little bit of ritual when we scout. I try to look at the river by myself first. I find what I think is the best plan. Then I discuss with the group, and make a decision about which route I will take. Most of the time my original route, or a pretty close variation ends up being the group consensus. After we are done I will take off my hat and shove it inside my PFD, while my sunglasses are stowed in a zipped pocket. I think of it as being a way to show the rapid respect. I also feel like I am not going to flip when I am ready for it, so I try to be ready for it. The more nervous I am about a rapid the sooner my hat goes into the PFD. For this rapid the hat came of pretty quickly.

I had a good run through Hance. I started out left of Muffin rock went down river a little bit until we were past some bigger rocks. On the left run the main thing is to avoid the rocks by shore That proved not to be a problem as I drifted out toward center, and actually caught some of the big waves at the tail end of the rapid.

The next big rapid is Sockdolager. This rapid was named by John Wesley Powell himself. If you are up on your 1860’s slang you will know that sockdolager means knock out punch. The run on this rapid is river left. It is a big rapid, but there is not really a place to scout so we went in blind. Starting out I realized that I did not set up very well. I was too far right, and I knew I would not be able to make the necessary push to the left. I quickly brought the stern around and went into the rapid backwards. On the plus side I have a lot of power rowing backwards. I made the initial pull and started out fairly well. The bad thing is that you cannot see nearly as well going backwards. I could see well enough to know that there was a giant wave at the bottom. I could not see well enough to make a good move around. I knew I could only take it straight with as much power as possible. I kept looking back trying to get good strokes and brace against the wave.

We hit the wall of water, and our back end went pretty high up. Then the water came over the stern. The first wave washed me mostly out of the boat. Rodney, one of my passengers, tried to grab my leg to hold me in. The second wave finished me off. Once in the water I first verified that my hat and sun glasses were still attached to me. I guess I should have shown more respect to this rapid. Fortunately they were there. The next thing I knew Rodney had moved the oar right in front of me. Meanwhile Stu, my other passenger, blew his whistle to alert the other boats. Before I knew it I was pulled to the side of the boat and Stu was helping me in. Both my passengers handled themselves like pros in a chaotic situation.

Probably the most distinct memory of the whole episode was looking into the front of my raft. It looked like a giant bowl full of chocolate milk. My boat is a self-bailing boat, which means that the floor is inflatable and there are holes between the tubes and the floor. This lets the water drain out of the bottom of the boat. I was back in the boat so quickly that it did not even have time to drain. All in all I would guess that I was in the water for less than ten seconds. A few people were confused by the whistle. By the time they could see us there were three people in the boat. One of the funny things to me was that the water felt fine. Though it is very cold water, it felt like a dip in the rec center pool.

There were still a lot of big rapids that day, but our trip through was uneventful. Though we covered a lot of ground we made it to our camp site in good time. Cremation is a nice camp spot, but unfortunately I think it is aptly named. By the time we got to camp it was burning hot. The camp site is specifically for boaters who are doing exchanges at Phantom Ranch. That night we said goodbye to our three group members that were leaving. It was sad to see them go. I had really enjoyed our time together.

Day 5 - Time for a Change of Scenery

On day five we awoke with a scream. It was not so much the first two snakes in the groover area that made Lee scream. There was a king snake that had killed a rattle snake in our bathroom area. As Lee decided to make her exit it was the third snake, a rattler, which elicited the scream. Frankly she showed great restraint. I think that placed in the same situation I would have screamed like a school girl.

Nancy called into the KSL outdoors program on the sat phone later in the morning. The hosts seemed to like the snake story. They also thought it funny when she mentioned that “unfortunately” three of her daughters could not be on the trip because they had babies this year. After she lost reception Shannon pointed out to Nancy that she said something that she probably did not mean to. Afterwards Nancy made sure to tell me that it is not unfortunate that we had a baby this year, and that she loves baby Jane. All three daughters thought it was actually pretty funny.

The first major stop of the day was the Little Colorado River. It is normally a beautiful turquoise color. A few weeks earlier the river flashed, and it has been muddy since then. Apparently something above us also flashed. When we went to bed the night before the river was mostly clear. When we woke up it was muddy. It would stay that way for the rest of the trip.

After the Little Colorado there was a major shift in scenery. The cliffs are still high above us, but now the rims are as far as ten miles apart. The rock instead of red sandstone is now more earth toned at river level. The other consequence is that now it is much hotter.

We ate lunch at Tanner Flats. It was really hot. It is less than two miles away from a place called Furnace Flats. It definitely felt like we were in a furnace. After lunch we went to some Indian ruins that are in the area. There is a big rock called the birthing chair. It looks like a chair and has carvings all over it. I do not know if it was actually used for birthing, but since that would be cool that is the story that I am going with.

Our camp for the evening was Cardenas. We got there fairly early so we got to rest again. It was a little harder to enjoy, because Cardenas was a fairly warm camp. It did have some fairly good shade. We had fun playing games. We got a good game of Werewolves going that night. I think I was a little nervous that night. The next three days would bring five of the big six rapids. It was time to get ready.

Day 4 - Nankoweep

We started off the morning at Saddle the same as every other morning. We ate breakfast, cleaned up, and loaded our boats. The Commercial group left before we did so we moved our boats to their spot which was deeper. Then we set off on the hike up Saddle Canyon. I was a little bit leery about hiking due to my previous headache from hiking, but I though I had better give it a try.

I took the trail slow and easy especially at first. It was a warm day and the trail was right in the sun. To be honest at first I was not sure if it was going to be worth it. Then we made it to the canyon. It was shady and at the end of our hike there was a small waterfall. It is hard to describe just how refreshing the side canyons are. It is like magically going from feeling beat to complete refreshed in seconds.

After the hike we left for what would be a very short day on the river. We went about five miles down river to the Nankoweep Camp. The crazy thing is that on this section of river our map listed no named rapids. There was nothing huge, but something in that stretch had to at least merit a two on the rating scale.

For most of the afternoon we just sat in the shade on the river bank and cooled our heels in the river. As much as I like being on the river it is sure nice to get in early and be able to relax. Our activity for most of the day consisted of telling the kind of riddles where you give a few hints and the other person tries to guess the answer by asking yes or no questions. We also had the chance to take a bath while the sun was still out. This is important because being less than a day away from the Glen Canyon Dam, the water is numbingly cold.

We decided that we would hike to the Nankoweep Granaries after dinner when the temperature would be much cooler, and we would be out of direct sunlight. It didn’t take long to realize that the hike was going to undue any good that the earlier baths may have done. It was a fairly tuff hike, and I was drenched in sweat by the time we got to the granaries. I keep thinking of the people who lived there a thousand years ago, and carried their corn for storage up there. The hike however was one of my favorites. We were up top at around dusk which is one of my favorite times of day, and the view down the canyon was spectacular. With a canyon that big I think it helps to be halfway up so you can take in the scene above and below. It was pretty dark for the hike out, but we made it.

The night ended back in camp with desert, and the game of snaps. If you don’t know what the game of snaps is just ask me the next time you see me. I will be happy to help you learn how to play. I’ve actually gotten pretty good at calling the game, though not as good as my friend Theron who taught me to play in the first place.

Day 3 - Seeing the Sights

Our group started the day out by exploring the area around camp. We arrived too late and too tired the night before to do anything but set up camp, eat and head off to bead. There are some Indian granaries on the side of one of the cliffs, and Stanton’s Cave is on the other. Stanton’s cave is where one of the ill fated trips stowed their gear then hiked out having decided the roaring twenties was enough for them. The day before I had developed a headache on our hike. This happens to me in the heat sometimes. I decided to take it easy to try and avoid the same fate on this day, so I skipped the hikes. It gave me the chance for some alone time. I wrote part of a letter, drank lots of liquid and tried to stay in the shade.

Day three was mostly a sight seeing day. It was a day when a camera would have come in handy, but alas I currently only have one photo from the day. There were some rapids, but mostly we were either pushing along or stopping to see some of the sights.

The first stop was at Redwall Cavern. The cavern was formed by floods on the Colorado that cut into the cliff wall as the canyon turns. John Wesley Powell described as capable of holding fifty thousand people. But then again he was prone to exaggeration. Current estimates are that it could hold five thousand closely packed. When I saw it to be honest at first I was under whelmed. From the river you simply cannot appreciate the immensity of it. It is quite a striking place, and when you get to the back you realize it is huge. We took a big group photo with our silhouette spelling out August 2010.

The second stop of the day was at Nautiloid Canyon where we stopped for lunch. Up the canyon there are several Nautiloid fossils that can be seen. I again skipped the hike fearful of another headache. In hind sight I probably should have opted for the cool relief of the side canyon. The other cool thing we saw was from the river. There is an old Anazai bridge crossing a small gap in the ledge. The only thing one can think upon seeing it is to wonder who would be walking up there.

Our Camp for the evening was at Saddle Canyon. Luckily lower Saddle is a rather large camp, because we were forced to share with a commercial group who made it there first. Sharing a camp is not bad, though it does strike against what we are acustomed to on the river. We had enough room for everything but the groover. For those uninitiated in things of the river the groover is the camp porta toilet. In my river experience the only possible worse spot we have had was last year on Cataract Canyon. There we camped on a completely barren sandbar which made use of only distance and dark of night for privacy.

That night we had steaks for dinner, which was a good thing. The commercial group also had steaks and we certainly would not have wanted to be outdone by them. We also had a night of dumb jokes and other general silliness. I am not sure why but we were in a bit of a silly mood after dinner. I laughed so hard my sides hurt. Right when we were getting ready to go to bed the guides from the other group came by to say hello. It was interesting to talk to them, and get their perspective on the canyon. The only problem was that I really feared we were making a nuisance to those who had beat us to bed. The guides were many things, but quite was not one of them. They soon left though, and while they remained noisy I felt much better not being a part of the noise.

The Roaring Twenties

After packing up in the morning we made our way the short distance down river to the scout for House Rock. It was a little intimidating for me. The last rapid that I scouted was big drop number three on Cataract Canyon. That was by far my worst run through a rapid ever. On House Rock Rapid there are obstacles at the top right, and really crazy hydraulics and a cliff wall on the bottom left. The idea is to get right as soon as you are past the obstacles. The run I made was almost exactly like the run I planned. I set up center right, pointed my stern to the right, waited for my moment, and then rowed for everything I was worth. It was a big confidence boost to have the first big rapid under my belt, even if it was not one of the big six.

After House Rock we visited North Canyon. It is a pretty side canyon where we hiked and later had lunch. It is really fun to go into the small side canyons after being in the large main canyon.

Then it was off to row the Roaring Twenties. This is not the hardest section of the canyon, but there are a lot of rapids in ten miles. In reading about this section I read about early trips and the people who drowned on those trips. Additionally I had heard that most flips happen in that section of the canyon. By the time you get to the really hard stuff you are a seasoned pro.

So it was that in Indian Dick rapid we had a flip. When a raft flips it is no fun at all. First you have to catch the raft and most importantly the people on the raft. Keep in mind that they are both moving targets that are not necessarily going down the river the way you would choose to go. Once you have gotten the people and raft to safety you have to flip the raft right side up and get everything together. The only thing I can compare it to is being involved in a car accident. There is a lot of rehashing of the incident and wondering what went wrong. To be honest I feel a little bad that I was so happy that it was not me who flipped. Fortunately the only damage from the flip was a lost hat. The rest of the rapids went well. I felt good about most of my runs, and I felt good about being through the roaring twenties. Now I really hoped that by the next big water day I would be a seasoned pro.

Our camp that night was at South Canyon. The camp was nice, but it was my least favorite place to park our boats. The beach was covered with driftwood. As the water rose through out the night, a consequence of changing flows from the dam, our boats would rise and hit the driftwood. In addition the water was very turbulent. Which meant our boats would be constantly crashing into the driftwood despite our best efforts to clear a spot for them. Luckily Driftwood is mostly smooth. With all of waves I was getting a bit sea sick so I decided to abandon sleeping on the boat and head for shore. Below is a picture looking from our camp south toward Vasey's Paradise and Stanton's cave

Day 1 - Those Waves Are Huge

There is something strange about actually shoving off on a rafting trip. With most things in life you can turn back if things start to go wrong. With rafting once you are on the river you are committed failing a major injury or some such thing there is no turning back. On Tuesday it was time to go. First we had to have our talk with the ranger. He checked our IDs, gave us a safety and stewardship talk, and assigned us our ravens. Ours were named Sundance and Ella. They accompanied us throughout the canyon. It is just a running joke for the rangers, but if I did not know better I would swear that we really did have our own pair of Ravens. After the talk we put in. We crossed the first riffle and headed down stream. A few miles later we were staring up at the Navajo Bridges 470 feet above us as we crossed underneath. It felt like crossing a line. We were leaving civilization behind for the next 276 miles.

For the past year or so I have been trying to figure out what I would be facing in terms of the river that I would be rowing. When I asked for a comparison to the rapids that I knew I was told that, “Nothing you have rowed compares to the rapids on the Grand Canyon.” As you can imagine this was not very comforting. About ten miles into the trip, I got my chance to see what the rapids were like. Badger Creek and Soap Creek are the first real rapids of the trip. According to my map they rate a five on a scale of ten. They were fun. They were two of my favorite rapids, but my goodness those waves were huge. If those were fives, I thought, what would the nines look like? To be honest it scared me a little.

Our camp for the first day was at Hot Na Na. It was a nice little camp, and it overlooked House Rock Rapid which was just down river. House Rock is the first rapid big enough that we needed to scout, but more about that tomorrow.

The Grand Canyon

A week ago Saturday I returned from my rafting trip down the Grand Canyon. I have taken notes and decided to blog the trip. I did not have a camera with me but I have stolen a few from Adrienne’s mom. I know it probably sounds crazy to go on a trip through the length of the Grand Canyon without a camera. I figured there would be 15 other shutter bugs on the Grand but only one camera to record our one month old. I will post by days to give the account. Today’s post actually covers the first two days on the trip, but before we actually got on the water.

I started out on the trip on the morning of August 15, 2010. It was sad leaving Adrienne and the children, especially knowing the sacrifice that Adrienne was making on my behalf. I’ve been joking over the last year about building up my good husband karma so that I could go on the trip. I think at this point I’ve burned through my cumulative lifetime total and then some.

I made the drive to my Mother-in-Law’s house in American fork where we were meeting. We loaded the gear onto the trailers and then hit the road. The Drive to Lee’s Ferry was fairly uneventful. We stopped for a last meal in page and then drove to the put in. I must say that the weather at the put in was hot, scary hot. The campground had been baking in the sun all day. It really made me hope things would be better close to the river. In that campground my sleeping bag was superfluous at night, I could only imagine what daytime would bring.

We were told that that we would not be able to rig until at least 10:00 AM the next morning. Fortunately we received word early Monday morning that we could unload our equipment and start rigging immediately. I was also told that rigging is usually an all day affair, but thanks to the efforts of our trip leader and several people who went to help early the days before we were able to finish rigging before we even ate lunch. From there we rowed our boats down to the private boaters’ beach and had the rest of the day off.





























That gave us a chance to do a few fun things. We visited the ranch at Lee’s ferry and took the self guided tour. We also drove to Navajo Bridge a few miles downstream. The bridge goes from rim to rim in that part of the canyon. There is an old bridge and a new bridge. The old is open to foot traffic and provides a beautiful view of both the canyon and the river below. It was kind of daunting looking down at the river and watching the currents and eddy lines. I knew in a few hours I would be passing underneath, and once on the river there would be no turning back.

One nice thing about Lee’s ferry is that it now has cell service. After dinner I was able to call Adrienne and talk for quite a while. It was so nice to have such a long pleasant conversation with her before being separated for so long.